The Sonthland Times. WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 1868.

Southland Times, Issue 1030, 30 September 1868, Page 2

The Sonthland Times. WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 1868.

We subjoin an extract from the proceedings in the Legislative Council on the subject of the : -Auckland ; Islands, on which occasion the Hon. J. P» Tatlob moved for the appointment of a Committee to consider the propriety of erecting, in conjunction with the Australian Colonies, a Lighthouse on the principal Island. The hon. member also took occasion 'to *point : out what course .should be adopted in orderrto remunerate the owners and crew of the Brig * Amherst,' for their , liberal conduct when the Provincial. ; Q-overnment pf Southland sent/ that vessel on an expedition to search for .the, missing crew, &c., of . the ill-fated ' Q-eneral Grant.' The Superintendent in.j- his remarks ; very delicately alluded to the valuable services rendered by IL ! -AbMStbong Esq., who accompanied the vessel, and subsequently published -a,, most valuably report of, the : voyage. No one who is acquainted with the circumstances attending the expedition will question the justice of the Colonial Grovefnment in rewarding the owners and;creW of the ' Amhersti ' r for the services they performed on that occasion, and of publicly acknowledging the value of the assistance rendered by Mr /j ABMSTio^&. '-'■ This geritlWman, at; great inconvenience and personal 1 sacrifice, volunteered to accompany the searchers, and the diary of the voyage, published in oar columns sometime since, is J not only interesting, but contains much'instructiye information which will be] valuable to' mariners jn general. It is therefore with satisfaction we are enabled to;,state that the report of the Committee has .teen brought, up, [. and it is favorable ; tola r sum^ ; of money being placed on the Estimates . for ;the owners and . crew 6f the ' 'Amherst,' and recommends'' that the- thanks of. the. ; colony be recorded in the minute books

of both Houses of Parliament, to Mr AhM3thong, for the valuable service he has rendered. The following debate took place on the subject in the Legislative Council :— " The Hon. Mr Taylor said that when his honorable friend Mr Nurse called for correspondence on the subject of the Auckland Islands, it vvaa the intention of that honorable gentleman to bring the subject before the Council, and he (Mr Taylor) very much regretted that that gentleman was absent and net able to do so, as he, being a naval officer, would hKve done justice to the subject. He presumed that all the members of the Council were well acquainted with the unfortunate accidents which gave rise to the necessity for sending the second expedition to the. Auckland Islands, and the object he had in bringing his motion before the Council was that it might recommendrthe adoption of some measure by which ' similar accidents might in future be avoided. In reading over the correspondence which had taken place between the Colonial Secretary of JSTew Zealand and the Chief Secretaries of the various Australian Colonies, he did not see that any one of them had suggested that anything more should be done in the matter than had been accomplished by the Provincial Government of Southland when they sent the Amherst on her last expedition ; but he did not think that the matter ought to be' allowed to rest at that stage. Something of a more permanent nature ought to be done. Not being technically competent in such matters he could not speak with authority on the subject ; but he might say that he had heard the Opinions of several masters of vessels and naval officers, on whose judgment he could rely, to the effect that it was not at all impracticable to maintain a light on the Auckland Islands at a moderate i expense, and he did not think that the expense would be so great as had been supposed. He thought many persons could be found who would be willing to take charge of the light for the privilege of occupying., the whole or part of the island, and probably all that would .have to be provided by the Colony of New Zealand and the other colonies joining in the expense would be the necessary ingredients for maintaining it. He was sorry that he had -not included in this motion power to the Committee to call for persons and papers ; but if the Council would give leave for his doing so, he would be glad, as he would have liked that Mr Balfour should have been, examined on the B&bject, and also that the honorable member representing the Government would provide the Committee with a copy of Mr Armstrong's report, which had been omitted from amongst the papers which | had as yet been provided. . There waß one other point in- connoefcion with this matter which he would like to , mention. He wished to draw attention to the admirable behavious of the officers and crew -of the brig Amherst, when they were sent out to the Auckland Islands, by the Provincial Government of : Southland, to look for the four remaining men after the others had escaped. They made no stipulation for any remunera- . tion to themselves, either for sacrificing the remainder of their season's sealing and whaling in leaving their fishingground to bring home the rescued men, 1 or for their services in going out a second time to explore the neighboring, groups of islands for the missing four, < but said they would trust to the Colonial Government to see that they should not be absolute losers. What the Provincial Government did was simply to pay their insurance, and fit them out for three months. They were out for ten weeks, . and for their own services they and the ownrrs received absolutely nothing, and he would therefore likeif the General Govern- : menfc of New Zealand, and the Governments of the Australian Colonies, would ■ in some way remunerate them. He would also feel very much gratified if the General Government^ and the Legislative Council thought ;. fit to express their thanks to Mr Armstrong, who volun- " teered his services in taking charge of the expedition. :Mr Armstrong had done so at a great sacrifice to himself. He was a man to whom pecuniary re^muneration cculd not be offered.; but the thanks of the Government would be „ very highly prized. Any person reading the report which he had made would feel satisfied that he had 'thoroughly earned them. He begged to move that • the correspondence of the General Government of New Zealand with the Colonial Governments . of Australia with reference to the losses of ships on the Auckland Islands be referred to a Select. Commitfceej with power to call for '■ persons and papers, with the object of recommending what specific action should be taken on the subject. The Committee to consist of the Hon. Mr Lee, the Hon. Colonel Eussell, the Hon. Mr Domett, the Hon. the Speaker and the Mover. Motion agreed to."